PERFORMATIVE READING: MARKUS DRAPER – HOUSE OF GLASS

HOUSE OF GLASS – On Constructing and Deconstructing (A performative portrait of the American architect Philip Johnson) is a staged reading for two voices, music, and image. At its core is an exploration of the relationship between architecture and power, examined through the biography of the American architect Philip Johnson (1906–2005). Johnson is considered one of the defining figures of the “American Century.”

House of Glass takes on the challenge of creating an artistic cinematic portrait and pursues two distinctive approaches. First, of interpreting the only painting in Johnson’s Glass House—The Funeral of Phocion (1648) by Nicolas Poussin—as a psychoanalytic mirror of Johnson himself. Second: a completely novel aspect of this project is that Johnson’s biography will be told from the perspective of the two cities that most decisively shaped his work: Berlin and Potsdam. From this vantage point, the piece also casts a spotlight on current debates surrounding how to deal with the architectural legacies of power from former dictatorships in these cities.

With Pia Dembinski, Stella Voge, Sascha Brosamer and Graham Dunning.

Funded by the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation and Karin Hänel / Bernd Bilitewski.

Concept: Markus Draper
Text: Markus Draper / Holger Kuhla
Voices: Pia Dembinski / Stella Voge
Music: Sascha Brosamer / Graham Dunning
Dramaturgy: Holger Kuhla
Set Design: Markus Draper

TICKETS via Resident Advisor https://de.ra.co/events/2495409